Adm. Thad Allen

Ray Kelly, maybe Joe Lieberman

(Newser) -
Janet Napolitano is officially headed for an exit on stage left , which invites the question of who will succeed her at Homeland Security. Politico and the Daily Beast round up some of the frontrunners to be the sprawling department's fourth leader:

Final pressure test seals the deal, Allen says

(Newser) -
A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in US history. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said today that...
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Now comes the 'bottom kill' permanent fix

(Newser) -
It's been off the radar for a while, but BP has reached a milestone of sorts in the Gulf: The relief well is finally finished—it has intersected with the blown well, putting the company on the brink of a permanent fix (after 5 months), reports CNN . Next step is...
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Now it's possible that the relief well will be unnecessary

(Newser) -
BP engineers have suspended the drilling of a relief well in the Gulf of Mexico because of a tropical storm headed for the dig site, the Houston Chronicle reports. The crew of the Development Driller III will lock down the drilling rig for two or three days. By then, however,...
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Ted Olson thinks High Court will uphold gay marriage decision

(Newser) -
John Boehner jumped on the repeal-the-14th-Amendment bandwagon today, telling Meet the Press that it gives "incentive for illegal immigrants to come here." "I do believe it it is time for us to secure our border and enforce the law ... and allow this conversation about the 14th Amendment...
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'Static kill' moves to second step

(Newser) -
BP has been given the green light to cement its busted well in the Gulf of Mexico now that its "static kill" effort is going exactly as planned. Pouring heavy drilling mud into the Deepwater Horizon leak has reduced pressure, and BP plans to start pouring cement today, CNN...
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Effort to finally plug well 'having desired outcome'

(Newser) -
The "static kill" attempt to seal off its leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico appears to have been a success, BP says. The procedure, which involved pumping heavy drilling mud into the mouth of the well, reached "the desired outcome," and the mud is keeping the...
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And the Coast Guard gave them the go-ahead

(Newser) -
Despite an EPA directive to use oil dispersants sparingly, BP routinely pumped thousands of gallons a day into the Gulf of Mexico—with the Coast Guard's blessing, reports the New York Times. Though little is known about the dispersants' long-term environmental effects, the Coast Guard approved 64 of 74 waivers...
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But worries persist about what's beneath the waves

(Newser) -
Finally there’s a glimmer of good news from the Gulf: the oil on the surface is disappearing a lot faster than anyone expected, according to the New York Times . The leak has been shut for almost two weeks, and “oil has a finite lifespan on the surface,”...
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Crews rush to permanently cap Macondo before next storm

(Newser) -
The effort to plug BP's leaky oil well in the Gulf of Mexico was back on track today as the skies cleared and crews raced to stop the gusher for good before another storm halts the operation again. A drill rig is expected to reconnect at around midnight to the...
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'Everything's looking good,' well could be dead in 2 weeks

(Newser) -
BP's relief well should finally reach its broken wellhead by the weekend, says federal coordinator Thad Allen, meaning the gusher could be snuffed for good within two weeks. BP vice president Kent Wells said crews hope to drill sideways into the blown-out well and intercept it at the end of...
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Feds believe leak was hidden while well was gushing

(Newser) -
The Coast Guard believes the oil seeping out of the sea floor near BP’s infamous well is entirely natural, Admiral Thad Allen tells the BBC . Oil has been detected about 1.9 miles from the well, but such leaks can occur naturally on the ocean floor, and may have...
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'Anomalies' spur caution, Thad Allen says

(Newser) -
Worries over "anomalies" and seeping oil near the site of the Gulf spill have led authorities to order another day of testing on the cap over the damaged BP well, CNN reports . "There is no indication at this time this is any indication of a significant problem in...
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Fears that capped oil may be leaking out elsewhere

(Newser) -
The new discovery of seepage near the plugged BP well has alarmed federal officials who have warned the company to rigorously monitor the seabed. BP must be prepared to reopen the well immediately if scientists find evidence of spin-off leakage near the oil cap, according to a testy official apparently...
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Feds, oil giant differ on whether to resume siphoning

(Newser) -
BP hopes to keep using its giant stopper to block oil from reaching the Gulf of Mexico until they plug the blown out well permanently. "Right now we don't have a target to return the well to flow," said COO Doug Suttles. Federal response commander Thad Allen outlined...
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BP has to remove containment cap after robot bumps it

(Newser) -
Another BP glitch in the Gulf has sent what appears to be significantly more oil gushing into the ocean. The company had to remove its containment cap today after a robot sub bumped into the venting system, reports NBC . BP hopes to have it back in place later today, but...
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White House Summons BP execs to Wednesday sit-down

(Newser) -
Looks like the president has changed his mind: The top federal official overseeing the Gulf oil spill has invited British Petroleum executives to meet with Barack Obama next week. Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen issued the invitation in a letter today to BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg. The letter requests that...
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But oil spill pointman says cleanup will go at least through fall

(Newser) -
Thad Allen has gone from unknown to a household name in a few short weeks, and he dominated the Sunday shows today, saying that while BP's containment cap was now catching 10,000 barrels a day, the progress was still a far cry from the 25,000 barrels a day...
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Oil giant collected 76K gallons in first 12 hours... of about 800K gallons

(Newser) -
BP says it funneled 76,000 gallons of oil and gas to a tanker in the first 12 hours of the cap—a small measure of success against the estimated 500,000 to 800,000 gallons that are sullying the Gulf every day, reports the New York Times. That number...
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But it's jagged, ergo more challenging to cap

(Newser) -
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says BP has successfully sliced off a pipe in an effort to contain the Gulf oil, but the cut is irregular and placing a cap over the spill will be more challenging. Allen said today that the cap was over the gusher and expected to...
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